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  • - [Jared] The International Space Station

  • is the largest manmade structure in space.

  • It was built in pieces and then launched into space

  • and assembled in orbit.

  • In this video, I want to give you a detailed look

  • at the station.

  • We're gonna look at each module in the order

  • that they were assembled.

  • We'll look at the countries involved

  • and the future plans for the station.

  • So if you're ready, let's go build a space station.

  • (electricity buzzing)

  • (explosion pops)

  • (digital music)

  • The International Space Station, or ISS,

  • took many years to become a reality.

  • In 1984, the United States announced a project

  • called Space Station Freedom.

  • Here's some drawings

  • of what the original station might have looked like.

  • It was never actually built in its original form.

  • There were lots of redesigns,

  • and it's funding was almost completely cut by US Congress.

  • Then in 1993, after several other countries were brought

  • on board, the name was officially changed

  • to the International Space Station.

  • Five years later, construction begins in space.

  • I'll show you the complete construction process,

  • but first, let's learn a little bit more about the station.

  • This is the ISS as it looks today.

  • It's mainly used to conduct science experiments

  • that can only be done in space.

  • There's usually six astronauts on board the station.

  • They generally switch out about every six months

  • so that no one spends too much time in space.

  • The station is about the size of an American football field.

  • It's located just outside the Earth's atmosphere.

  • This is called Low Earth Orbit.

  • It's not very high up, considering

  • that some satellites orbit way out here.

  • The ISS only takes about 92 minutes to orbit the earth.

  • That's about 28,000 kilometers per hour.

  • Over time, the ISS will slowly lose altitude.

  • If nothing was done, the station would eventually burn up

  • as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere.

  • To prevent this, the station must be periodically reboosted

  • to stay in space.

  • The main countries now participating are United States,

  • Canada, Russia, Japan and many countries

  • from the European Space Agency.

  • Let's get to know the main parts of the station.

  • The Integrated Truss Structure is kind

  • of like the backbone of the station.

  • It holds the solar arrays to generate electricity,

  • radiator panels, these remove heat

  • from the station, and other equipment

  • and science experiments are also attached.

  • This part down here contains the pressurized modules,

  • which means the astronauts can live and work in here

  • without a space suit.

  • All of the Russian modules make up

  • the Russian Orbital Segment.

  • The other side is called the United States Orbital Segment.

  • It's made up of modules from the United States,

  • Europe, Japan and Canada.

  • The different pieces of the station, also called modules,

  • were built in many locations around the globe.

  • Each module was then launched into space

  • by one of these three rockets,

  • the American Space Shuttle, the Russian Proton Rocket

  • and the Russian Soyuz Rocket.

  • Once in space, it's time to put it all together.

  • This is definitely not your average Lego set.

  • Once construction started, the ISS took a little

  • over a decade before it was considered complete.

  • Each one of these lines represents the addition

  • of a new module to the station.

  • Let's go ahead and start at the very beginning.

  • The first piece

  • of the station is a Russian module called Zarya.

  • It provides power from the solar arrays

  • and also propulsion when there's a need to move the station.

  • There's three docking ports in front and one in back.

  • These will be used to connect

  • to the next pieces of the station.

  • The second module is American,

  • and it's called Unity, or Node 1.

  • It has six docking ports to connect to future modules.

  • There's a special piece here to connect

  • between the different docking mechanisms.

  • This is called a Pressurized Mating Adapter,

  • or PMA for short.

  • Unity was launched with PMA-1 and PMA-2.

  • This is the Zvezda service module.

  • It provides life support systems

  • and is considered the functional center

  • of the Russian Orbital Segment.

  • It also has three docking ports in front and one in back.

  • Next is the Z1 Truss.

  • This holds equipment for the station.

  • It's not part of the main truss,

  • but it provided a temporary mounting place,

  • as we'll see here in a moment.

  • PMA-3 was then added to the bottom side of Unity.

  • It's always good to have an extra one of these around.

  • The P6 Truss was temporarily mounted

  • to the top of the Z1 Truss.

  • This includes the first solar array wings.

  • This provides much needed power to the growing station.

  • Radiator panels were also installed

  • to help remove excess heat from the station.

  • At this point, there was enough functionality

  • that astronauts can start living aboard the station,

  • instead of just temporary visits.

  • From November 2000 until now,

  • there has been a continuous human presence

  • on board the station.

  • The Destiny module is also called the US Laboratory.

  • This is a place where a lot of scientific research happens.

  • A little rearranging was necessary

  • so that Destiny could be installed.

  • March 2001 came the addition

  • of the External Stowage Platform 1, or ESP-1.

  • This was a place to store spare parts for the station.

  • Canada made a vital contribution with the Canadarm2.

  • It's a robotic arm that can help

  • around the outside of the station.

  • It's usually controlled by an astronaut

  • who's on the inside of the station.

  • Either end of the arm can be attached

  • to one of these grapple fixtures

  • that you'll find on various modules.

  • The Quest airlock allows the astronauts to safely step

  • outside for a few hours to perform an EVA,

  • also known as a spacewalk.

  • This is a Russian module called Pirs.

  • It can be used as an airlock for spacewalks

  • or as a docking port to allow visiting spacecraft

  • to attach to the station.

  • Now we get to start building the integrated truss structure.

  • If you remember from earlier,

  • this is kind of like the backbone of the station.

  • Our first piece is the S0 Truss,

  • and it gets attached to the top of the Destiny module.

  • The Mobile remote servicer Base System,

  • or MBS, was added next.

  • This platform can move along the truss.

  • It's especially useful when the Canadarm2 is attached.

  • Then the S1 Truss was added followed by the P1 Truss.

  • The S stands for starboard and the P stands for port.

  • This way, you know on which side of the station it's on.

  • Each side has room for three more radiator panels.

  • For now, only the center ones will be installed.

  • ESP-2 was added to the station right next

  • to the Quest airlock.

  • This is the P3/P4 Truss segments with solar arrays

  • and another radiator panel.

  • The tiny P5 Truss goes at the end here.

  • To balance out the station,

  • we'll have to retract a few panels.

  • The following year, the other sides

  • of the truss were added as well.

  • ESP-3 goes down here.

  • And then the P6 Truss can be moved

  • to its final resting place.

  • It's also time to deploy a few more radiator panels.

  • The Harmony module is also called Node 2.

  • It will be attached to the forward end of Destiny.

  • But first, we have to do some more rearranging.

  • Harmony has six docking ports which will allow

  • for further expansion of the station.

  • Next comes the Columbus module,

  • which is a European laboratory.

  • Now we get some more robotics also built by Canada.

  • This is a space robot called Dextre.